Recipes for Cucumbers? How Do You Eat them?

Okay, I added radishes to my grocery list this week.I know store bought won't compare. But I won't have radishes, until I get some planted, after this snow gets out of my way!The 10 day forecast calls for the snow to leave next week! Yeah...Just in time to get a late start on my early crops... but not too late.A couple weeks shouldn't hurt a thing... A couple months, makes it iffy.

Okay you sold me on radishes... how about cucumbers?I seldom plant more than one or two plants, I get tired of them sliced in vinegar, sliced in sour cream, or diced in salads...Is there another way to use them? By the way, my pickles always turn out mushy and gross, so I no longer attempt them... just buy good pickles at the grocers.

shredded, as a garnish for miso pork noodles (google it). on the side, you have a small piece of garlic (the little baby ones). You take a bite of garlic, a bite of noodles... yum!

And howabout cucmber wakame salad? It's the seaweed that floats in miso soup. You can get it dried real cheap. I steep some dried bonito briefly in some hot brown rice vinegar (any will do) to make the dressing. Slice the cucumber and put the wakame on top, then dressing, then some sesame seeds. again, yum!

There's something new growing in the Helpful Gardener Forum! Become a part of ithere!

I pick a nice sized tomato... quarter it not quite all the way through, then I mix up chicken salad, tuna salad, ham salad, or even egg salad, and along with the mayo and pickle relish, I dice up some cucumber bits, and then I scoop a large serving of my salad over my tomato and have a fancy lunch, that I serve on a bed of lettuce and with crackers or croutons.

But, how many times per week can you eat this before it is tiring?I often slice them lengthwise and use them as garnish on dinner plates, along with some cherry tomato slices, and bits of greenery... looks pretty.

I have cut them into all kinds of neat shapes, sometimes leaving just a bit of peel... for decorations and garnishes...

I wonder... you can make soup out of celery and mushrooms... both are delicate ... would cucumber make a good soup? A cucumber flavored sauce? And served over what? Come on, all you great cooks... let's figure some way to try to come up with recipes for cucumbers...

cucumber does make nice soups (even I say that as doesn't like cucumber!). Type cucumber soup into the keyword search at allrecipes.com and you will get a nice selection of them. I didn't see any cucumber mushroom soups, but I did find this"

Raita

You can pretty much add any of the neutral/mild flavor water veggies. I serve it on the side of spicy food and it makes a great salad dressing. You can use fat free yogurt too since it's already going to get thinned out by mixing it. I also stretch the recipe out and add way more veg to the point the seasoned yogurt is just a nice coating. Super yummy.

This is similar to a way you've mentioned, Ozark Lady, but have you tried cucumbers sliced thinly and served in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and maybe a bit of ginger and chilli? It's how my mum always made them when I was little, I love it.

soupgarnishsliced thinly with chive cream cheese on little breads for tea sandwichesmake a sun dried tomato mix of cream cheese, top a thick round cracker and put a slice of cucumber on itcucumbers and tomatos in italian dressingcucumbers sliced lengthwise and dipped in ranch dressingcucumber slices in ice water with mint is good, or make ice cubes that are festivemix with tomotoes, corn and peppers for a salsause them as a fried green tomoto type of thingput them on sandwiches for some crunchput them in potato salad for some flavorAs a "cracker": Use thick slices of cucumber in place of toasts or crackers when serving dips or spreads such as hummus.

Wow,I followed a link, and then found another link, and another... I was many links away, and yet still in the forum... ha haLots of good info.And I now know what DH and DD means... ha ha I was clueless.I did arrive with one question... not clearly defined for me... I suppose I should go google...What on earth is lacto-fermented pickles?I have made sauerkraut is that what you are doing?I found many interesting suggestions here.I saved them in my Helpful Gardener Recipes file on my computer.Thanks everyone!I do like cucumbers, just had about run out of ideas.

"Traditional preservation of food was done without freezers or canning machines, through the process of lacto-fermentation. In this process, the sea salt and/or whey inhibits the growth of putrefying bacteria until enough lactic acid is produced to preserve the vegetables for many months. But, the lactobaccili which produce the lactic acid to preserve the vegetables do much more! They enhance the digestibility of the vegetables, increase vitamin levels, produce enzymes, offer antibiotic and anticarcionogenic substances, and support the growth of healthy flora in our intestines. My goodness, all of this from pickling! Compare that with todayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pickles, which offer nothing but pasteurized vegetables floating in an acidic brine of white vinegar."